Bandsaw speed for cutting damascus?

E

Eriksen

Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
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I have some 4mm damascus sheets that contain 5160 and 203E carbon steel and need to know the best bandsaw blade speed to cut these with?
 
For carbon steel in the annealed stage it's usually recommended for a bi-metal blade in the 200 SFPM range. Different sources recommend ranges from 100 to 250 SFPM.
 
I run the same speed as ken suggested - 200 (low) on my Portaband SWAG setup.
 
Slower speeds are often better and the blades last longer.
 
Steel thickness, blade configuration/teeth count also matter.
"The minimum number of teeth a band saw blade should have in the material being cut is three. However, it's generally recommended to have between six and twelve teeth in the cut at all times.
The number of teeth per inch (TPI) on a band saw blade determines the tooth pitch. The TPI affects the cut quality and speed."
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
Steel thickness, blade configuration/teeth count also matter.
"The minimum number of teeth a band saw blade should have in the material being cut is three. However, it's generally recommended to have between six and twelve teeth in the cut at all times.
The number of teeth per inch (TPI) on a band saw blade determines the tooth pitch. The TPI affects the cut quality and speed."
Click to expand...
The blades that were included with the saw is 14tpi and the steel is about 4mm thick.
 
Eriksen said:
The blades that were included with the saw is 14tpi and the steel is about 4mm thick.
Click to expand...
4mm = .157"
14 TPI = .071"

.157/.071=2, so there is only 2 teeth in the 4mm thick material at a time. It will "work". Remember to have the billet in a soft annealed state.

Even an 18 TPI blade will have less than 3 teeth at a time. To get even 6 teeth at the same time in a 4mm thick billet would need almost a 38 TPI blade - not sure I've even see one of those.
 
I have some 24 tpi blades I use...hard finding blades for thinner steels!
 
Welcome HemshyMonster,
This thread was pretty much finished. The info is still current.

Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.
I'd love to know what your username is from:)
 
Will do, Mr. Moderator! I am big on bandsaws that is why I was wondering what happened to this.

Last name is Hemshy and I'd often play games with my kids and me being monster so I started using my last and monster together as username on sites and gaming. :)
 
Good name story. I believe you are the only Hemshy I ever heard of. I bet you had no problem in school being mixed up with all the other Hemshys.

There have been quite a few threads about bandsaws and using them. You can find past threads by using the Custom Search Engine in the Stickys. Just plug in "bandsaw". You will get several hundred past threads.

It is best not to resurrect old threads. If there is something you wish to discuss about a thread that is over 6-months old, it is best to start a new thread and link the old one in your question.
 
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